Guide:How to make a fanon Imperial Guard Regiment
What is a Regiment? A regiment is the primary organisational unit of the Imperial Guard. The size and composition of Imperial Guard regiments is not standardised across the Imperium; though the average strength at founding is about a thousand soldiers, that number can vary enormously between regiments, with some only a few hundred strong at founding-strength, whilst others possess tens of thousands of fighting troops. A regiment is divided into a number of fighting units commonly called companies, each with a command staff of its own. Each company can consist of a number of further sub-units again called platoons, each platoon in turn being made of a number of individual squads of Guardsmen. The actual terms used for these fighting units, their size, and equipment can vary between regiments. Background One of the most important things for developing your Regiment is to decide where they are from, this affects and defines the nature of the regiment, how they dress, the style of its war gear, its culture, traditions, and idiosyncrasies. It also narrows down the type of regiment it will become. The next thing you should consider is why this regiment was raised, are they the product of their home worlds tithes, contributed to a distant war, or were they mustered to combat a particular threat on a planet near their own home? Are their survivors from a war that tore across their home world, now hopping from one battle to the next, or are they survivors a crusade, whom have not yet been asked to lay down their arms. Once you have decided where they are from and why they were raised, their history is the next step. Whether they are a freshly raised regiment to fight the Emperor's wars, of the hardened survivors of years of battle, their history will allow you to add depth to their stories. Are they naive recruits whom have never fired their gun outside of training, or are they the jaded survivors of countless campaigns. It is important to decide what soft of state the regiment it is currently, as well as whom are their heroes and commanders. Recruitment and Reinforcement How does your regiment recruit its members? This question is another important part of your regiments culture as well as the culture of the planet they are on. Are they the Spire-born sons and daughters of the sectors elite, trying to make a name for themselves, or are they the dregs of the underhive, whom were press ganged into service. There are countless ways people are brought into the Imperial Guard, either by choice or conscription. How a regiment is reinforced is another major factor that defines them. Do they receive their recruits in the field, testing them in a baptism of fire, or do they return to their home worlds to train their recruits. Other are never reinforced, being used until they can be used no more, often then being merged with other under powered regiments, or being given leave to return home or settle another world. Gender Gender within the Imperial Guard is generally meaningless, with all manner of individuals being allowed to serve in service to the God-Emperor, there are many exceptions. All male and all female regiments are not uncommon or unheard of, depending on the culture of their home world. Colors and Livery All regiments have some of uniform, something to identify them and distinguish them from other regiments, from other worlds or even from other regiments of their world, be it their armor painted a different color, a tribal totem, or even an ornate banner depicting the regiments stories, or even something as simple as a number painted on their shoulder guard. Check out Games Workshop's Imperial Guard Painter or Bolter and Chainsword Imperial Painter Characters Once you have decided just what your regiment is, it will make designing your characters much easier, a good place to start would be with the Regiments commander, his or her actions will be a major contributor to the rest of the units. Is the commander a maverick, prone to recklessness but inspirational to his men, is he prone to melancholy and constantly seeking redemption, or is he even a paranoid person, expecting his death not only from the enemy, but even his allies? Another thing that defines your characters is their Home World and regiment type. Are they Penal Legionnaires seeking to redeem themselves or simply live as long as possible, are they noble warriors from a feral world, or a greedy noble looking out for themselves. Etymology A relatively minor concern, but one you should think about, is what are your regiment's members called? The basic 'Guardsman' works, but depending on the regiment, it might not fit exactly. Rankers in artillery regiments are 'Gunners'; in Cavalry and Armoured regiments, they might be called 'Troopers'; in Penal Legions they are 'convicts' or rarely 'legionnaires.' Depending on what world your regiment comes from, and what traditions they have, your soldiers might have different titles, such as 'Askari' 'Spahi' 'Legionnaire' 'Mann' or some other title; make up your own if you want, or whatever. Type/Specialization When making your regiment, consider what role it will play on the battlefield: every world that produces Imperial Guard regiments has its own martial traditions, practices and experiences which all combine to dictate the manner in which its inhabitants choose to wage war. Despite this, it is possible to classify Imperial Guard regiments into different types by the nature of their equipment, training and role on (and off) the battlefield. Light Infantry Regiment A regiment formed up with no organic fighting or transport vehicles is known as a Light Infantry Regiment. These regiments display tendencies towards battlefield infiltration and reconnaissance, display skill at moving through all manner of difficult terrain and often possess highly effective sniper cadres. They tend to be somewhat deficient in heavy weapons support. Drop Regiment Some regiments exist within the Imperial Guard who specialise in arriving on the battlefield from the skies. Such regiments are termed Drop or Drop Troop Regiments. Lightly armed and equipped (although not as light as Light Infantry), Drop Troop Regiments typically attack from behind enemy lines, or are dropped right on top of enemy defences. All personnel in a Drop Regiment will be able to be equipped with grav-chutes, although this is not their only method of attack. Such regiments will also feature a large amount of airborne vehicles such as the Valkyrie troop carrier or Vulture gunship. With no tanks or other heavily armoured vehicles to land in an assault, the highly mobile drop regiments are often tasked with forming the initial beachhead in an assault or capturing and holding an important location until the armoured reinforcements can arrive to relieve them. This means that the casualty rate amongst Drop Regiments tends to be higher than that of "regular" Imperial Guard units, as the regiments are ill equipped for a protracted fight with a superior force. Regiments of Drop Troops often make use of specially adapted equipment such as Drop Sentinel, Cyclops and Sentry Gun. These machines are often dropped into combat via Grav-chutes alongside the Troopers or deployed from the holds of Valkyries. Infantry Regiment A "standard" Imperial Guard regiment will feature a predominance of fighting Guardsmen, as well as a number of organic fighting and transport vehicles. Despite being percieved as the most common of regiment types, the variation between Infantry regiments of different worlds will be marked. Heavy Infantry Regiment Similar in style to Infantry Regiments, Heavy Infantry Regiments are marked out by the personal equipment of their Guardsmen. Almost all troopers in a Heavy Infantry Regiment will be equipped with heavy armour, such as carapace armour or a more exotic design unique to their world of origin. Similarly, weapons issued will be of a "heavier" nature with a preponderance of plasma or similar high-end energy weaponry issued to specialists and teams. It has been known for all troopers in a Heavy Infantry Regiment to be armed with hellguns (hot-shot lasgun) instead of the standard Guard weapon, the lasgun. Mechanised Infantry Regiment A regiment where all infantry units possess their own organic transportation. Mechanised regiments feature a preponderance of the Chimera and Taurox vehicles, but may also feature other transport vehicles, including designs unique to their homeworld. Mechanised formations can often be found providing support for armoured units, and may possess armour of their own, amongst other variations of fighting vehicle. Armoured Regiment The Hammer of the Imperial Guard, Armoured Regiments are made up entirely of fighting vehicles, and can be expected to field very high numbers of Leman Russ Battle Tanks or variants. Typically bereft of organic infantry, but many contain their own artillery and flak tanks. Some Armoured Regiments may also possess Super-Heavy Tank units. Artillery Regiment Regiments made up entirely of artillery pieces are known as Artillery Regiments. Such regiments can deploy a mixture of destructive weapons types or may specialise in a particular brand of long-range ordnance. Some such regiments contain small numbers of infantry and are likely to contain large amounts of transportation and anti-air vehicles. Since Artillery Regiments are not intended for direct frontline combat, they are generally much smaller then other Imperial Guard regiments. For this reason, Artillery Regiments are often attached as auxiliary units to larger regiments or are placed under the direct control of the local Commanding Imperial Officers. Siege Regiment Regiments specifically trained for siege warfare often contain more artillery, both heavy and light, than standard Imperial Guard Regiments. Siege regiments often are larger and more well equipped then other types of regiments as they are expected to stay and fight in a warzone for at least several years if not decades if the war is particularly brutal. Due to the high casualties such regiments will inevitably take, siege specialized forces often have large contingents of conscripts so that the regiment's pool of manpower always remains high. Siege regiments often work in concert with Light Infantry or Armoured Regiments so that a breach in enemy lines can quickly be reinforced and if possible, pushed forward deeper. More well equipped siege regiments often have a large number of super-heavy and heavy tanks. Abhuman Regiment Abhuman-populated worlds raise their own regiments for the Imperial Guard, although very few in number. Because of the specific levels of competence and/or skills possessed by Abhumans, these regiments are normally raised only to be immediately split up into small units, which are then parcelled out and attached to other Imperial Guard regiments. The most common sorts of Abhumans in the Imperial Guard are Ratlings and Ogryns, though depending on circumstances, it is possible to find other sorts of Abhumans, and even Beastmen and Mutants serving in Imperial ranks. Cavalry Regiments Cavalry Regiments are entirely mounted on horses, camels, giant lizards, mechanical mounts, or some other such beast of burden. They are typically lightly equipped, without much of the heavy weapons and artillery of Infantry Regiments, but they are very mobile, and are often equipped with explosive Hunting Lances. Penal Legion A Penal Legion is a very specialized sort of regiment: raised from the denizens of Penal Worlds, or formed from miscreants of the Imperial Guard, the fortunate legionnaires are given the chance to atone for their crimes by dying for the Emperor in battle. The duty in Penal Legion is, by its nature, for life. Tempestus Scions Or in low gothic; Stormtroopers. These iconic "Glory Boys" are the foremost elite of Imperial armies, equipped with carapace armor and Hellguns, they do everything: ground assaults, seizing dropsites, infiltration, wherever they go, they're always on the line. They are formed, trained and commanded by Ordo Tempestus which oversees the "Militarum Tempestus", which makes the Stormtroopers in fact separate organization from other Guard regiments that are organised under "Militarum Regimentos". Stormtrooper regiments are permanent organisations. They are deployed in strike forces in order to bolster Guard war efforts in particular fronts, seizing ground and making surgical strikes. It is also common practise to send company or battallion of Stormtroopers into battlefield where it is further divided within its designated regiments. However, some Imperial Guard regiments train and field their own "Stormtroopers", Scions equivalent. Term grenadier, in this context at least, means Scions equivalent squads which are fully integrated in the Guard regiment they serve in. Equipment Obviously, with Imperial Guard regiments coming form such a variety of sources, there will be a wide variety of equipment, but there are standard equipment that can generally be found. When building your regimenmt, it is very important to pick out for it equipment that fits its stated purpose: for example, a light infantry regiment generally won't have much use for a battery of heavy mortars. Personal Weapons Most men in a regiment will be armed with either longarm; a Lasgun or Autogun, or the more rare Hellgun. Some regiments will exchange their longarms for a close combat weapon and a pistol version of the longarm. Elite troops and officers may be equipped with more powerful weaponry, such as power weapons and boltguns. Special Weapons Treading the line between personal weapons and support weapons, these weapons are carried with the ordinary infantry troops on attacks and retreats, to provide very close support. Common special weapons include flamers, snipers, shotguns, meltaguns, grenade launchers, and plasma guns. Typically, there will be one or two special weapons in a squad. Although in special cases, there may be an entire squad or platoon armed with such specialized weapons. Heavy Weapons Heavy weapons, such as autocannons, missile launchers, heavy stubbers, heavy bolters, lascannons, and plasmacannons, are typically organized into heavy weapons squads, attached to company and platoon HQ; standard infantry squads will often be equipped with a single heavy weapons, adding significantly their firepower and versality. Heavy Weapons, while lacking the punch of artillery add much to Imperial Guard short ranged firepower, and are often central to Guard strategy; even artillery and armoured units will often make use of such weapons, as they are excellent for use in security outposts while the unit in encamped. Artillery Earthshaker Cannons and Heavy mortars are often assigned to provide close support to infantry and armoured units, or entire artillery regiments will be called on to give fire support for a major action: the Imperial Guard maintains possibly the widest array of heavy artillery of any army in the galaxy, and that fact has often led to victory. The most common artillery variants listed beneath include on the left the weapon and on the right its self-propelled variant's name. Vehicles The Imperial Guard uses a wide array of vehicles, some derived from STC, others built from local designs. Armoured regiments will mostly consist of Leman Russ tanks and their variants, while Infantry regiments will have a predominance of Chimera transports; an artillery regiment will probably be equipped with unarmed heavy vehicles, to transport the guns, and to keep them supplied. Most combat units will have at least a few Sentinel Scout Walkers; adaptable, fast, and easily customizable for local conditions. Category:Imperial Guard Category:Imperial Guard Regiments